Chapter 45: Summoning the Soul
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All feasts must come to an end.
In the cold, desolate moonlight, amid the decrepit and ruined temple, flesh and blood mingled with the filthy mud on the ground.
It wasn't the right occasion for singing "Farewell".
Chai Cuiqiao, holding her own skeleton, asked softly, "Is Young Master about to leave?"
"Yes," Li Ang nodded.
"Parting today, I do not know when next we might hear news of Young Master."
"...We will meet again if fate allows it, as long as one lives long enough," Li Ang sighed, "What are your plans for the future?"
"...." Chai Cuiqiao's eyes dulled. Her birth mother had passed away long ago, her father saw her only as a tool for family transactions, and that husband in name only had already arranged a new marriage and taken another bride.
In this vast world, where could a lonesome ghost find peace and a place to exist?
"With my revenge fulfilled, I have no more wishes." Chai Cuiqiao tried to smile, "Ghosts like me, born from resentment and bitterness, tend to dissipate on their own once their grievance is avenged and they desire nothing more. The only way out is to find a den rich in yin energy and lie low."
"Don't you want to be reincarnated?" Li Ang asked quietly, "Monk Hui Bin is quite capable. While there's still time, why not ask him to recite the Sutra of Past Life Enlightenment for you?"
Chai Cuiqiao gave a wry smile, "It's been a very long time since there's been any news from the netherworld. Those ghost officials who search for lost souls according to the book of life and death to assist them in reincarnation have also disappeared.
Reincarnation has stalled, the Six Paths of Reincarnation have come to a halt. After common people die, their souls either become lone ghosts or fly to the Extreme North Outer Space, never to be seen again.
Even a saintly monk with immense power cannot ferry souls to the netherworld."
"No news from the underworld? The Six Paths of Reincarnation have completely stopped?"
Li Ang faintly smelled major news but now was hardly the time for in-depth discussion. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Can you find a den with sufficient yin energy by yourself?"
"It's difficult," Chai Cuiqiao shook her head, "Places like ancient battlefields and tombs, where yin energy accumulates, are already occupied by powerful ghosts that have been there for years."
The only way to sleep soundly in those places was to marry off to those hideous old ghosts. But for Miss Chai, marrying an old wretch was worse than death.
"...I do have a way for you to avoid dissipation," Li Ang said.
"Eh?"
Chai Cuiqiao's eyes widened, "What way?"
"This." Li Ang took out one of the rewards the System had just given him, a small, exquisitely made flag made of white cloth, with a bamboo pole for a frame. The left side of the white cloth banner read "Golden Boy leads the way on a dragon to the east," the right side read "Jade Maiden sends to Penglai, riding a crane leisurely," and in the middle, it read "West Heavenly Road, Soul Leading Banner."
[Name: Soul Leading Banner]
[Type: Weapon]
[Quality: Rare]
[Attack Power: Low]
[Special Effect 1: Absorbs and stores yin energy, current yin energy stock 0/1000]
[Special Effect 2: Absorbs and stores spiritual bodies. The yin energy stored in the Soul Leading Banner can be used by spiritual bodies for healing and cultivation. Spiritual body level cannot exceed player level, and the spiritual body itself is not bound by the player. Current spiritual body limit 0/3]
[Note: All monsters and ghosts quickly come hither]
"This is...."
"Consider it one of my magic artifacts," Li Ang explained, "Actually, the place I'm going to isn't much better than here, and it's not necessarily safer following me than staying here..."
This was indeed the truth, as Earth in the real world was in the midst of a brutal game, where both players and ordinary people without supernatural traits faced life and death trials at any moment.
The only advantage was that the Soul Leading Banner would protect a spiritual body from dissipation, providing a secure space to settle in.
Regardless, they were comrades who had experienced tough battles together. Miss Chai had indeed been quite unlucky in life, so if there was a way to help, he would. The notion of luring her as a long-term auxiliary equipment was secondary.
Chai Cuiqiao looked at the Soul Leading Banner, pondered for a moment, and asked, "The place Young Master is going to, do they have Leaf Play?"
Leaf Play, also known as ancient poker, originated in the Tang Dynasty and was wildly popular among the people in the Ming Dynasty. Everyone, from the Palace nobles to the common scholars and peasants, would seize the opportunity to play a couple of rounds in their spare time.
So Miss Chai was an old hand at the card table, who would have thought.
"Yes," Li Ang nodded, "Have you heard of Happy Landlord?"
"Is there cricket fighting?"
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"Yes, have you heard of Pocket Monsters Go?"
"Are there poems, lyrics, or riverside banquets with floating wine-cups?"
"We don't have that, but there are concerts happening all the time in our place."
"Then, are there romance stories?" Chai Cuiqiao pinched her skirt hem, somewhat embarrassedly said, "Preferably the kind about lovesick men and heartbroken women."
"Huh?" Li Ang thought about modern novels and nodded, "Overbearing CEOs, cold military commanders, loyal male servants, sunny pop idols, campus heartthrobs, older teachers, younger school brothers, harems, reverse harems. All sorts of novels, you name it."
"w(ﾟДﾟ)w"
Chai Cuiqiao's eyes lit up; she nodded vigorously like pounding garlic, yet she still maintained the demeanor of a young lady from a reputable family, "Then I will leave it to the gentleman to arrange."
Li Ang shook the soul-calling banner, drawing Chai Cuiqiao into it, then turned his head to see Xing Hechou and others discussing how to deal properly with Hong Niang.
After being married to Wang Guan, this woman had become pregnant. Her original intent was to stay by Wang Guan's side covertly, helping that Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang to collect evidence related to cannibalism,
Now that Wang Guan was dead, it was naturally time to send the only slightly traumatized Hong Niang back to Nanjing City.
When helping someone, go all the way; send the Buddha to the West.
After discussing with his teammates, Li Ang took two gold bars from Liu Wu Dai, and accompanied Hong Niang in catching up to the fox family at the edge of the dense forest.
Li Ang offered a gold bar as the price, combined with the Illusion Technique to coax and intimidate, asking the group of foxes to escort Hong Niang back to Nanjing City and ensuring her personal safety during the process of resolving Wang Guan's cannibalism case.
The other gold bar was given to Hong Niang to hide on her person,
Believing that with many foxes secretly protecting her and with the aid of Criminal Department Shilang Wang Kuang, the women from Wang Guan's estate could be properly settled.
Once everything was handled appropriately and the teleportation countdown was nearing its end, everyone teleported away.
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Three days later, at night, Solitary Cold Temple.
A thin figure in a Taoist robe, limping, slowly emerged from the dense forest, hobbling straight into the courtyard of Solitary Cold Temple.
The yard buzzed with the sound of insects, drawn by the scent of blood, crowding on the dark red surface of the soil, greedily licking the bloodied mud everywhere.
The limping Taoist scanned the area, waved his Taoist robe, and created a gale that gathered the swarms of flies and mosquitoes into a cluster, then violently exploded them.
As the dust of insect corpses filled the air, the Taoist bent down slowly, gently touching the bloodstained ground, muttering to himself, "Wang Guan, my disciple, are you there?"
Buzz—
The bloody mess buried deep in the ground, as if stimulated, gushed frantically onto the surface, forming thin strands of flesh that waved in the wind like seaweed.
"Hehe, good that you're here."
The Taoist reached out his palm, gently touching the flesh tendrils, "After your death, that Criminal Department Shilang became jittery. The officials and nobles in the city won't stand for us anymore, even Emperor Jiajing doesn't completely trust me anymore, forcing me to flee the capital.
Sigh, anyway, I, Chi Duzi, have received your tribute as a disciple, which makes me your educating and enlightening master. How could our Kuiyang Sect's people die without clarity?"
The tendrils of flesh danced even more violently,
The Taoist laughed, "Hmm? What, you want me to save you? Have you thought this through? If I save you now, your three souls and seven spirits will never be released; you'll have no more chances for regrets."
Upon hearing this, the flesh tendrils halted for a moment, then, as if mad, began to sway and dance wildly.
"Hahahaha, since you, my disciple, would rather forsake the cycle of reincarnation for revenge, how could I, your master, not help you?"
The Taoist laughed out loud, slamming his palm on the ground, causing the flesh tendrils to rise from the soil, connect to each other, and adhere to the twin leg bones of a Mountain Demon abandoned in the corner of the courtyard three days ago.
Legs, torso, arms, head... a small-sized Mountain Demon materialized on the spot, its limbs and face made entirely of pink, writhing flesh tendrils.
Ugly, nauseating, terrifying.
"Eh ah...."
The flesh Mountain Demon seemed to suffer immense pain, holding its head and crying out loud, while the limping Taoist watched with a smile, waiting for it to calm down before saying leisurely, "Had enough? We've got serious matters to attend to, let's go, to Songjiang Prefecture."
The flesh Mountain Demon wordlessly knelt, carried the Taoist on its back, and started walking east.
Songjiang Prefecture is an ancient name for Yin City.